Item and the Derby top of the agenda for Balding
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Fri 5 Jun 2026
Andrew Balding has twice finished second in the Betfred Derby and could now have the ideal candidate to finally grasp Epsom’s greatest prize when his unbeaten Dante hero Item tackles the famous Downs.
The Kingsclere handler has already tasted Classic glory at Epsom when winning the Oaks in the infancy of his training career, but it is emulating his late father Ian Balding’s famous Derby success with Mill Reef that he most craves.
The Juddmonte-owned Item could now provide an emotional victory only six months after Balding senior’s death in January, aged 87.
Explaining Item’s rise from Kempton, via Bath, to Epsom, Juddmonte’s European racing manager Barry Mahon said: “He’s never put a foot wrong so far and is a colt we had Group One aspirations for even as a two-year-old.
“He was declared to run in the Futurity at Doncaster before the ground got heavy and we just felt it wasn’t the right thing for him while he was so young.
“He showed in the Dante he has the potential to be Group One class and we’re looking forward to seeing how he performs in a proper Group One race.
“The Derby is one of the pinnacle races of the European Flat racing season and to have a contender is exciting. The horse is fit and well and we’re looking forward to it.”
Item will be joined by stablemate A Taste Of Glory as the Balding pair attempt to go one better than the trainer’s two Epsom silver medallists, Khalifa Sat (2020) and Hoo Ya Mal (2022)
And with the might of Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle battalion to overcome, connections can take encouragement that Item has already accounted for two of the Irish raiders (Action and Christmas Day) when stating his Derby credentials on the Knavesmire.
“I don’t think he’s short of speed, but Andrew is confident he will stay the trip and I think he will have improved for the experience he gained at York,” continued Mahon.
“He won two novices in pretty easy fashion last term, but you’d debate how much he learned from those races. You saw in the Dante he was quite green when he came up alongside Action and I think he will take a step forward again and hopefully the trip won’t be a problem.”
It is 30 years since William Haggas won the Derby at the first attempt with Shaamit and he will now saddle just his fifth runner in the race, with Tom Marquand believing Maltese Cross has all the qualities to provide Somerville Lodge with more Classic glory.
Marquand said: “William has won more Derbys than me so he knows what it takes. I’m looking forward to riding for him in the Derby and I would say it’s my best ride in the race so far. I’ve been lucky and had some nice finishing results, but this would be my best ride on paper.
“He’s a very exciting horse, we know he will stay and we know the track won’t be an issue either and it’s a big weekend for Somerville Lodge.
Maltese Cross is unbeaten this season (Bradley Collyer/PA)
“We’d have loved the rain not to have come as we know he acts on really fast ground really well, but it is what it is and it’s an uncontrollable factor.
“He’s always been a well-balanced horse and we’ve never been worried about the track and we’ve never been worried about the trip either. That is two big boxes ticked, but that is still only a small part of an even bigger equation.
“I’m not sure if stall one is a positive or a negative and you won’t really know until the weekend, but horses have overcome it before.”
Maltese Cross enhanced his reputation when edging out Bay Of Brilliance in the Lingfield Derby Trial, but the latter’s trainer Ralph Beckett is taking plenty of encouragement from that neck reversal as the duo prepare to clash again.
“I was delighted with the way he handled the track at Lingfield, even though we suspected that would be the case,” he said.
“He’s a pretty well-balanced individual. I think although he didn’t run at a higher level at two, having gone round Goodwood and Redcar and looked professional both times, it was no surprise he enjoyed himself at Lingfield and has come out of the race as good as he has.
“The only question we have to find out is will he be good enough and only the racecourse will tell us that.”
Another to advertise their credentials in the many trials preceding the Derby is Ancient Egypt, with the Newmarket Stakes winner one of two in the race for owners Amo Racing alongside Karl Burke’s maiden.
Ancient Egypt won well at Newmarket (Joe Giddens/PA)
“He’s a serious bit of kit and we’d like a few more like him,” said trainer Charlie Johnston, who saddled Lazy Griff to finish second to Lambourn in the premier Classic 12 months ago.
“He’s a different type of horse to Lazy Griff, but we’re bringing him here expecting him to be in the shake-up.
“They’re quite different in that Lazy Griff had done a lot more at two. He won a stakes race at two and barring injury I felt he’d have won a Group One at two.
“We came into his three-year-old career working towards the Derby from January. With this horse there was a bit more an unknown as we finished the year on a disappointing note in the Royal Lodge and we had to get back on track a bit. We did that in real good style in Newmarket.”
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